Mitunes - John Williams' - The Best of John Williams
DRAMA! : The Four Dorothys By Paul Ruditis
Genre: Teen Fiction
Release Date: February 2007
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pages: 236
Spawned from Hollywood's A-list glitterati, nearly every student at the exclusive Orion Academy is a singer, dancer, model, or actor -- with the ego to match. So how do you fit so many budding stars into one school musical?
Multi-cast, of course. It's a Wizard of Oz like no other: four Dorothys, two Scarecrows, two Glindas, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Every "star" gets a moment in the spotlight.
Meanwhile, Bryan Stark, narrator extraordinaire, needs to shed some light on a more scandalous plot. Dorothys are mysteriously dropping out of the show, one after the other. If Bryan doesn't figure out why, there may be no one left to click her heels by opening night. . . .
I found The Four Dorothys at a used bookstore earlier this week. I will admit the ruby slippers pictured across the spine caught my attention and, being a former high school drama geek myself, decided to buy it.
I would best describe this book as High School Musical meets Drop Dead Gorgeous. So if you like one or both of those movies, you'll enjoy this book.
The novel is told from the perspective of Bryan Stark, a closeted high schooler who is self proclaimed as a background character to everyone else in his life, which I found sort of odd considering he was the narrator of the story (How can you be secondary in your own story?) Maybe that is just me being picky.
Anyway, Bryan introduces us to his school, the Orion Academy, a private school funded by the donations of Hollywood starlets who send their children there. His best friend Sam, who is one of the Dorothys, is the only kid in the school who is viewed as a charity case because her mom is a teacher there and gets special scholarships. Bryan's other friend, Hope, is a large breasted, eccentric who calls her personal style 'Goth - Ick'. I couldn't decide whether that was a joke I didn't like or didn't get. We are also introduced to a slew of other characters, some of which stood out while others fell flat.
The humor, which tends to be mostly theatre oriented (obviously), is light and fun. Ruditis does a good job explaining things for readers who are non-theatrical and may not understand certain things. Luckily, if you are lacking in knowledge of the theatrical world, you can still read and enjoy this book. (Though some knowledge may help.)
As stated in the synopsis, Dorothys start falling subject to strange things and one by one are knocked out of their moment in the spotlight. The incidents are vastly different, one occurring on stage, another at lunch and so on. As far as the mystery goes, I wish there was more of it. There are several accidents, or so they seem, but I wouldn't say these occurrences drove the plot.
Side bar: For those who do not know, there are many tales the cast and crew of The Wizard of Oz have shared, many of which involved strange accidents. These events led to cast changes and even risked several people's lives**. I guessed that was part of Ruditis' inspiration, but wished there was more of it, or that the main 'mystery' incorporated more of that idea.
Other than that, I found The Four Dorothys an entertaining read. It's perfect for the high school drama kid, or the one at heart. I enjoyed reading it, for it reminded me of my high school years and all the pranks my friends and I got into. And, if you have a love for theatre, musicals or The Wizard of Oz , you'll enjoy this book.
** The make-up used on Buddy Ebson (the first actor to play the Tin Man), contained aluminum dust and almost killed him. This forced him to leave the project. Margaret Hamilton (the Wicked Witch of the West) suffered second and third degree burns due to a malfunction of the trap door used during the sequence right after she says the famous line "I'll get you my pretty and you're little dog too." and disappears in an explosion of red smoke. There is also a story about how one of the munchkin performers killed himself on set while the crew were filming a scene with Dorothy, The Scarecrow and The Tin Man, but that isn't true.
If you wish to know more stories, check out the documentary The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: The Making of a Movie Classic hosted by Angela Lansbury, which is included on many of the DVD and Blu Ray editions.
No comments:
Post a Comment